The Seven Read: Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief
by mooksie01
Summary: Read the reactions of the seven of the prophecy when they read about Percy's first quest! Rated T
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**

** Authors Note: This story is one of those "Characters React to the Books" stories. Before we get started I need to put down some information on pairings: THE PAIRINGS WILL BE CANNON! This means that there will be no Pothena or Leyna or Thalico or anything like that. I'm sorry guys but I like to keep things true to the stories! There may, however, be some Jeyna hinting on Reyna's behalf. Also, the story takes place right before the Argo II sails to New Rome, so Percy has just been made Praetor by the Romans. If you have any questions feel free to ask them in the form of a review :D! R&R!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO, HOO, or any of the characters mentioned!**

**Annabeth P.O.V:**

Annabeth was lying on her bed in her cabin staring sadly at a picture of Percy. She couldn't help all the thoughts running through her head. 'What if he doesn't remember me? What if he got a new girlfriend? What if he's more Roman now instead of Greek? What if he hates us?' She was so distracted she didn't notice the golden light engulfing her until everything turned black.

**Leo P.O.V:**

Leo was super excited for tomorrow. Not only would he get to sail his baby, the Argo II, to Jason's camp, but he would also get to meet the great Percy Jackson. He'd wanted to know all about Percy but whenever his name was brought up the mood would get all depressed and gloomy which was definitely not his kind of atmosphere. Still…. he really wanted to learn about Percy's adventures. Suddenly a golden light flashed and Leo disappeared.

**Jason P.O.V:**

Jason couldn't seem to go anywhere without hearing _something_ about _Percy Jackson._ Jason couldn't help but feel a little jealous about all the hero-worship Percy received. At least when he got back to Camp Jupiter he would get his power back. Suddenly a golden light engulfed Jason and he was gone.

**Piper P.O.V:**

Piper wanted to know why Percy was so loved. She could understand a little friendship but it seemed like everyone in the camp would willingly give their life for the guy. Piper wanted to meet Perseus Jackson, and that was that. Once again golden light filled the room and Piper was gone.

**Frank P.O.V:**

Frank was excited to meet Percy's other family. He was even more excited when he realized that they would all probably be really nice like Percy was. This thought ran through his head as he walked down to meet with the occupants of the Greek warship. Percy still had his hands draped around Hazel and his shoulders, and it just felt awesome to be with Percy, his new best friend, and Hazel, his girlfriend. Just then a golden light flashed and he and Hazel disappeared.

**Authors Note: **

**Thus the Prologue is finished! Please feel free to review and tell me what you think! I don't plan to have Percy come in until the end of my The Seven Read: The Son of Neptune story. I hope you liked my first fanfic! Blue cookies to all! (::) (::) (::)**


	2. The Story Continues

**A/N: Guys all of the support that you have given me makes me all warm and fuzzy inside. Thank you so much for the support and just the things that you guys said was like medicine in itself, I know I'm being really mushy right now but I mean it, I can't thank you guys enough. I took down the Part 1 of Chapter One down because I'm uploading the full (Book) Chapter either tomorrow or tonight. Again thank you so much for the support! The next (extra long) chapter will be up very soon!**


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter One: I Vaporize My Pre-Algebra Teacher**

** Authors Note: I'm super surprised by all the feedback I've already gotten, thank you so much! Also, 63 views in two hours?! WOOOO! I'm really pleased if you can't tell :D**

**Also, my goal is to do ALL of the books, Heroes of Olympus included. I know it's probably really hard to trust my word since so many people tend to break that exact promise, but please trust me! At the very least I'll finish the first book; I won't abandon the story in the middle of nowhere!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO, HOO, or any of the characters mentioned!**

**Also by request I took out the authors note announcing my sickness/recovery.**

**Annabeth P.O.V: **

Annabeth woke up in a cozy room that had seven plush armchairs in a semi-circle. There was a nicely sized fire roaring in a brick fireplace at the front of the room and the whole place had a home-y feel to it. Then she noticed the people. She got up and realized that there were five other people in the room with her. She recognized Jason, Piper, and Leo, but there were also two people she didn't recognize. One was a girl who looked about thirteen with curly brown hair that reminded her of cinnamon. The other was an Asian boy who looked about sixteen with a pudgy face and a bulky body which did not fit together at all.

Just as she was taking in the room everyone began to stir, and within minutes they were all awake. The girl and the boy that Annabeth didn't recognize seemed slightly panicked.

"Where's Percy?! What have you done with him?!" She gasped out.

It took a few seconds for Annabeth to register what had just been said. She gasped.

"Y-You know P-Percy? Where is he?!" Annabeth sounded like she was on the brink of tears, which indeed she was. She just missed Percy so much…

"Yes we know him, but who are you?" The boy asked suspiciously, his hand gripping the bow strung across his back.

"Jason!" The girl screamed while tackle-hugging him.

"Hazel?" Jason sounded slightly confused, and Annabeth knew that not all of his memories were back quite yet, but she was happy that the girl recognized him; it would make getting along easier. It was pretty obvious by now that these two strangers were Roman.

The boy was staring at Annabeth with wide eyes; he looked like he'd seen a ghost.

"_You're_ Annabeth?!" The boy seemed absolutely astounded.

"Um, yeah I'm Annabeth Chase, Daughter of Athena." She said confusedly.

The boy's face broke into a grin. He said, "Percy won't stop talking about you, you know?"

His words made her feel like she had just had a sip of nectar; warm and fuzzy, "He remembers me?" She said hopefully.

"Mhmm, oh, Frank Zhang, Son of Mars, or Ares for you. This is Hazel Levesque, Daughter of Pluto, or Hades for you." The boy, Frank, said, motioning to the African-American girl behind him.

"Well, I've already said I'm a daughter of Athena. This is Piper Mclean, Daughter of Aphrodite, or Venus, and Leo Valdez, Son of Hephaestus. I guess you already know Jason…" She trailed off when she noticed that Hazel was staring at Leo like she'd seen a ghost. She didn't know why but she figured she would get it out of her later.

"So," Annabeth said, "Any idea of why we we're all here? Or where here even is?"

Just as Annabeth said this, a note fluttered into her hands. She was confused, but read the note anyways:

_Dear Confused Demigods,_

_ I've brought you all here to read ten books about the past and future. This is necessary for you to get along in the coming battles. Follow your hearts, and you will make it back to your own hearths and homes._

_ -Hestia_

Just as Annabeth finished reading a box appeared on the floor in front of her. When she opened it, she choked back a sob and said, "The first book is called 'Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief.'"

"Well," Piper said, "I guess we should read. Who's going first?"

"I will." Annabeth said firmly, leaving no room for argument. She opened the book to the first page:

**Chapter One: I Accidentally Vaporize My Pre-Algebra Teacher**

"Are all of the chapter titles going to be that weird?" Frank asked, snickering along with everyone else.

"Knowing Percy?" Annabeth replied, "Absolutely."

** Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood.**

"None of us do, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth said, while all of the other demigods nodded solemnly.

**If you're reading this because you think you might be one, my advice is:**

"Oh gods help us, Seaweed Brain is giving advice," Annabeth said, sounding absolutely terrified.

**Close this book right now.**

Leo jumped to try to close the book, and Annabeth pulled it away at the last second causing Leo to land in a very unflattering position on the floor. It was silent for three seconds before everyone burst out laughing.

After about five minutes everyone regained their composure and Annabeth continued reading.

** Believe whatever lie your mom or dad told you about your birth, and try to lead a normal life.**

"That's actually not half bad…" Annabeth said, "It probably wouldn't work, but it's not half bad."

**Being a half-blood is dangerous.**

"Check," Leo muttered.

**It's scary.**

"Check," Frank grumbled

** Most of the time, it gets you killed in painful, nasty ways.**

"And check," Said Annabeth grimly, remembering the Titan War.

**If you're a normal kid, reading this because you think it's fiction, great. Read on. I envy you for being able to believe that none of this ever happened.**

"Is the book available to mortals?" Piper asked confusedly.

Everyone simply shrugged.

**But if you recognize yourself in these pages – if you feel something stirring inside - stop reading immediately. You might be one of us. And once you know that, it's only a matter of time before **_**they**_** sense it too, and they'll come for you.**

"He makes it sound so dramatic," Jason muttered.

_'Percy,'_ Annabeth thought, wistfully.

**Don't say I didn't warn you.**

"You didn't warn me!" Leo chimed.

**My name is Percy Jackson.**

"_Noooo_ I thought it was Zeus," Frank said.

Hazel giggled, and Frank beamed.

**I'm twelve years old. Until a few months ago, I was a boarding student at Yancy Academy, a private school for troubled kids in upstate New York.**

"Is he a troubled kid?" Piper asked thoughtfully.

Annabeth snorted as she read the next line.

**Am I a troubled kid?**

Piper blushed as the other five snickered.

"Yeah. You could say that," Annabeth laughed.

**Yeah. You could say that.**

Now it was Annabeth's turn to blush.

**I could start at any point in my short miserable life to prove it, but things really started going bad last May, when our sixth grade class took a field trip to Manhattan – twenty-eight mental-case kids and two teachers on a yellow school bus, heading to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to look at ancient Greek and Roman stuff.**

"Sounds amazing," Annabeth said wistfully.

Everyone else rolled their eyes.

"More like torture." Leo grumbled.

**I know – it sounds like torture.**

"Wooooo! I think like Percy!" Leo cheered.

Annabeth rolled her eyes, "That's not necessarily a good thing, Leo."

**Most Yancy field trips were.**

** But Mr. Brunner, our Latin teacher, was leading this trip, so I had hopes.**

** Mr. Brunner was this middle-aged guy in a motorized wheelchair. He had thinning hair and a scruffy beard and a frayed tweed jacket, which always smelled like coffee. Yo9u wouldn't think he'd be cool, but he told stories and jokes and let us play games in class. He also had this awesome collection of Roman armor and weapons, so he was the only teacher whose class didn't put me to sleep.**

"That sounds like Chiron," Piper said.

"Who's Chiron?" Hazel asked, tilting her head quizzically.

"He's our mentor," Annabeth said, not wanting to give anything away about what Chiron _was_.

**I hoped the rip would be okay. At least, I hoped that for once I wouldn't get in trouble.**

Annabeth, Hazel, and Frank snorted.

"Percy _always_ gets in trouble, Hazel giggled.

**Boy, was I wrong.**

Annabeth smiled smugly.

**See, bad things happen to me on field trips. Like at my fifth-grade school, when we went to the Saratoga battlefield, I had this accident with a Revolutionary War cannon. I wasn't aiming for the school bus, but of course I got expelled anyway.**

Everyone in the room burst out laughing and they only laughed harder when Leo fell out of his seat onto the floor from laughing so hard. It took ten full minutes for everyone to regain their composure enough to keep reading.

**And before that, at my fourth-grade school, when we took a behind-the-scenes tour of the Marine World shark pool, I sort of hit the wrong lever on the catwalk and our class took an unplanned swim.**

Hysterical laughter once again ensued and it took even longer than last time for the final giggles to stop enough so that Annabeth could continue reading.

**And the time before that… Well, you get the idea.**

"Nooooooo, keep going!" Everybody moaned.

** This trip, I was determined to be good.**

Annabeth, Hazel, and Frank all snorted once again.

**All the way into the city, I put up with Nancy Bobofit, the freckly, redheaded kleptomaniac girl, hitting my best friend Grover in the back of the head with chunks of peanut butter-and-ketchup sandwich.**

Leo snorted, "What kind of last name is _Bobofit_?"

Annabeth, however, looked positively pissed, "She did _what_ to Grover?"

**Grover was an easy target. He was scrawny. He cried when he got frustrated. He must've been held back several grades, because he was the only sixth grader with acne and the start of a wispy beard on his chin. On top of all that, he was crippled.**

"_Oh,_" Annabeth snickered, "Grover is going to _kill_ Percy when he hears this."

**He had a note excusing him from PE for the rest of his life because he had some kind of muscular disease in his legs. He walked funny, like every step hurt him, but don't let that fool you. You should've seen him run when it was enchilada day in the cafeteria.**

"_Grover_," Annabeth and Piper moaned.

"Way to blow your cover," Annabeth muttered.

**Anyway, Nancy Bobofit was throwing wads of sandwich that stuck in his curly brown hair,**

Annabeth growled.

** and she knew I couldn't do anything back to her because I was already on probation.**

Annabeth sighed, looking upset, "Oh, Seaweed Brain, what did you do now?"

Nobody had the heart to tell her that she was talking to a book.

**The headmaster had threatened me with death**

"WHAT?!" Annabeth screamed.

**-by in-school suspension if anything bad, embarrassing, or even mildly entertaining happened on this trip.**

"Oh." Annabeth muttered, sounding embarrassed.

Leo snickered and was immediately met with a large pillow to the face.

**"I'm going to kill her," I mumbled.**

"I'll help," Annabeth snarled.

**Grover tried to calm me down. "It's okay. I like peanut butter."**

"Not as much as Tyson," Frank said, causing Hazel to giggle once more.

**He dodged another piece of Nancy's lunch.**

Annabeth growled again.

**"That's it." I started to get up, but Grover pulled me back to my seat.**

** "You're already on probation," he reminded me. "You know who'll get blamed if anything happens."**

** Looking back on it, I wish I'd decked Nancy Bobofit right then and there. In-school suspension would've been nothing compared to the mess I was about to get myself into.**

"He would deck a girl?" Piper asked.

"Not unless she was messing with his friends," Annabeth answered.

**Mr. Brunner led the museum tour.**

**He rode up front in his wheelchair, guiding us through the big echoey galleries, past marble statues and glass cases full of really old black-and-orange pottery. It blew my mind that this stuff had survived for two thousand, three thousand years.**

"Longer than that, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth said laughing gently.

**He gathered us around a thirteen-foot-tall stone column with a big sphinx on the top, and started telling us how it was a grave marker, a stele, for a girl about our age. He told us about the carvings on the sides. I was trying to listen to what he had to say, because it was kind of interesting,**

Annabeth let out a strangled gasp and the other five whipped around to look at her.

"Annabeth," Piper asked frantically, "What's wrong?!"

"P-P-Percy was interested in something _educational_," Annabeth gasped out.

The others laughed knowing now why she had gasped, Percy just didn't seem like the kind of guy who liked to learn.

**but everybody around me was talking, and every time I told them to shut up, the other teacher chaperone, Mrs. Dodds, would give me the evil eye. **

**Mrs. Dodds was this little math teacher from Georgia who always wore a black leather jacket, even though she was fifty years old. She looked mean enough to ride a Harley right into your locker. She had come to Yancy halfway through the year, when our last math teacher had a nervous breakdown.**

"Wonder why…" Annabeth muttered sarcastically.

**From her first day, Mrs. Dodds loved Nancy Bobofit and figured I was devil spawn.**

"No," Annabeth snorted, "That would be Nico."

"You _know _Nico?" Hazel asked, confused.

"Yeah…" Annabeth answered just as confused, "He's a son of Hades. I met him when he was ten."

Now Hazel looked not only confused but shocked as well. Deciding, though, that it would be explained later she dropped the subject.

**She would point her crooked finger at me and say, "Now, honey," real sweet, and I knew I was going to get after-school detention for a month.**

Leo winced, "Dude," he muttered, "That's just evil."

Annabeth fought down a laugh at the irony of that statement.

**One time, after she'd made me erase answers out of old math workbooks until midnight, I told Grover I didn't think Mrs. Dodds was human. He looked at me, real serious, and said, "You're absolutely right." **

Everybody in the room groaned.

**Mr. Brunner kept talking about Greek funeral art. **

**Finally, Nancy Bobofit snickered something about the naked guy on the stele, and I turned around and said, "Will you shut up?" **

"Yeah!" Leo yelled, "You go Perce!"

**It came out louder than I meant it to. **

"Of course it did. Seaweed Brain." Annabeth muttered fondly.

**The whole group laughed. Mr. Brunner stopped his story. **

**"Mr. Jackson," he said, "did you have a comment?" **

**My face was totally red. I said, "No, sir." **

"Poor Percy," Annabeth said, "He absolutely hates being the center of attention."

**Mr. Brunner pointed to one of the pictures on the stele. "Perhaps you'll tell us what this picture represents?" **

"He won't know," Annabeth snorted.

"You don't have very much faith in him," Jason observed.

"What can I say?" Annabeth said thoughtfully, "He's a Seaweed Brain."

**I looked at the carving, and felt a flush of relief, because I actually recognized it. "That's Kronos eating his kids, right?"**

Annabeth's eyes went wide. Hazel and Frank laughed at the look on her face.

"Do you know how hilarious you look right now?" Frank asked.

"He-He kn-knew s-something," Annabeth stuttered.

Everyone minus Jason laughed. Jason was wondering how someone who seemed so idiotic could be a leader.

**"Yes," Mr. Brunner said, obviously not satisfied. "And he did this because ..." **

**"Well..." I racked my brain to remember. "Kronos was the king god, and-" **

"God?" Frank questioned.

"Chiron will probably correct him," Annabeth said.

**"God?" Mr. Brunner asked. **

"See?"

**"Titan," I corrected myself. "And ... he didn't trust his kids, who were the gods. So, um, Kronos ate them, right? But his wife hid baby Zeus, and gave Kronos a rock to eat instead. And later, when Zeus grew up, he tricked his dad, Kronos, into barfing up his brothers and sisters-" **

Hazel was fanning her face and looked slightly sick.

**"Eeew!" said one of the girls behind me. **

"I have to agree," Piper said, "That's disgusting."

**"-and so there was this big fight between the gods and the Titans," I continued, "and the gods won." **

"He just summarized a war that took hundreds of years into a paragraph," Jason said, obviously astounded.

"Only Seaweed Brain," Annabeth said fondly.

**Some snickers from the group. **

"He got it right, though," Annabeth said confusedly.

**Behind me, Nancy Bobofit mumbled to a friend, "Like we're going to use this in real life. Like it's going to say on our job applications, 'Please explain why Kronos ate his kids.'"**

**"And why, Mr. Jackson," Brunner said, "to paraphrase Miss Bobofit's excellent question, does this matter in real life?" **

"Busted," Leo laughed.

**"Busted," Grover muttered.**

"Yes! I think like Grover!" Leo cheered.

"That might not necessarily be the best thing either, Leo," Annabeth said, but Leo wasn't listening.

**"Shut up," Nancy hissed, her face even brighter red than her hair. **

Everyone broke into laughter at the mental image.

**At least Nancy got packed, too. Mr. Brunner was the only one who ever caught her saying anything wrong. He had radar ears. **

"Or horse ears," Piper said.

"What?" Frank and Hazel asked confusedly.

"Nothing!" Piper said quickly, "Spoilers!"

**I thought about his question, and shrugged. "I don't know, sir."**

"That sounds more like the Seaweed Brain I know!" Annabeth laughed.

**"I see." Mr. Brunner looked disappointed. "Well, half credit, Mr. Jackson. Zeus did indeed feed Kronos a mixture of mustard and wine, which made him disgorge his other five children, who, of course, being immortal gods, had been living and growing up completely undigested in the Titan's stomach. The gods defeated their father, sliced him to pieces with his own scythe, and scattered his remains in Tartarus, the darkest part of the Underworld. On that happy note, it's time for lunch. Mrs. Dodds, would you lead us back outside?" **

"Guess Chiron wasn't any better at changing subjects back then, huh?" Piper laughed.

"Nope!" Annabeth said, trying to hold in her laughter.

Frank and Hazel were seriously confused about who this Chiron guy was.

**The class drifted off, the girls holding their stomachs, the guys pushing each other around and acting like doofuses. **

**Grover and I were about to follow when Mr. Brunner said, "Mr. Jackson." **

**I knew that was coming. **

"Does he really get in trouble _that_ much?" Hazel asked, knitting her eyebrows.

"He gets in trouble _more_ than that much," Annabeth said, her eyes a little wistful.

**I told Grover to keep going. Then I turned toward Mr. Brunner. "Sir?" **

**Mr. Brunner had this look that wouldn't let you go- intense brown eyes that could've been a thousand years old and had seen everything. **

"You're getting closer, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth said, with the wistful looking remaining in her eyes.

**"You must learn the answer to my question," Mr. Brunner told me. **

**"About the Titans?" **

Now Annabeth laughed, sadness forgotten. "Same ol' Seaweed Brain," She laughed.

**"About real life. And how your studies apply to it." **

**"Oh." **

"-and same ol' Seaweed Brain response," Annabeth said, laughing harder, everyone else joining in.

**"What you learn from me," he said, "is vitally important. I expect you to treat it as such. I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson." **

**I wanted to get angry, this guy pushed me so hard.**

"He pushes all of us hard," Leo whined, "And he didn't even think it was funny when I dyed Clarisse's hair pink!"

"Oh stop whining, Repair Boy," Piper laughed.

Hazel was still looking at Leo a little weird.

**I mean, sure, it was kind of cool on tournament days, when he dressed up in a suit of Roman armor and shouted: "What ho!'" and challenged us, sword-point against chalk, to run to the board and name every Greek and Roman person who had ever lived, and their mother, and what god they worshipped. But Mr. Brunner expected me to be as good as everybody else, despite the fact that I have dyslexia and attention deficit disorder and I had never made above a C- in my life. No-he didn't expect me to be as good; he expected me to be better. And I just couldn't learn all those names and facts, much less spell them correctly. **

All of the demigods, minus Frank, that is, nodded sympathetically.

Annabeth shot Frank a confused look.

"I'm not dyslexic or ADHD," He answered, blushing, "Just lactose intolerant," He continued, blushing further.

The other demigods stared at him jealously.

**I mumbled something about trying harder, while Mr. Brunner took one long sad look at the stele, like he'd been at this girl's funeral. **

"He could've been," Annabeth said thoughtfully.

Hazel and Frank looked at her like she'd grown a third eye. Annabeth just waved them off in a 'later' gesture.

**He told me to go outside and eat my lunch. **

**The class gathered on the front steps of the museum, where we could watch the foot traffic along Fifth Avenue. **

**Overhead, a huge storm was brewing, with clouds blacker than I'd ever seen over the city. I figured maybe it was global warming or something, because the weather all across New York state had been weird since Christmas. We'd had massive snow storms, flooding, wildfires from lightning strikes. I wouldn't have been surprised if this was a hurricane blowing in. **

"What has Zeus and Poseidon so mad?" Jason wondered aloud, the others, minus Annabeth, nodding in agreement.

"You'll find out," Annabeth said solemnly.

**Nobody else seemed to notice. Some of the guys were pelting pigeons with Lunchables crackers. Nancy Bobofit was trying to pickpocket something from a lady's purse, and, of course, Mrs. Dodds wasn't seeing a thing.**

"Child of Hermes?" Piper wondered.

"I hope not.." Annabeth muttered, "Then she'd have to come to camp, and I couldn't deal with her."

**Grover and I sat on the edge of the fountain, away from the others. We thought that maybe if we did that, everybody wouldn't know we were from that school-the school for loser freaks who couldn't make it elsewhere. **

"Is his self-esteem really that low?" Hazel asked.

"He got better…" Annabeth muttered, "I think…"

**"Detention?" Grover asked. **

**"Nah," I said. "Not from Brunner. I just wish he'd lay off me sometimes. I mean-I'm not a genius." **

"Not a genius in terms of book-smarts, maybe," Annabeth said, "But he's very smart when he needs to be."

**Grover didn't say anything for a while. Then, when I thought he was going to give me some deep philosophical comment to make me feel better, he said, "Can I have your apple?" **

All of the demigods laughed their _podexes _off.

**I didn't have much of an appetite, so I let him take it. **

**I watched the stream of cabs going down Fifth Avenue, and thought about my mom's apartment, only a little ways uptown from where we sat. I hadn't seen her since Christmas. I wanted so bad to jump in a taxi and head home. She'd hug me and be glad to see me, but she'd be disappointed, too. She'd send me right back to Yancy, remind me that I had to try harder, even if this was my sixth school in six years and I was probably going to be kicked out again. I wouldn't be able to stand that sad look she'd give me.**

"He really loves his mom," Piper said, smiling softly.

"Yeah, he really does," Annabeth said returning the soft smile.

**Mr. Brunner parked his wheelchair at the base of the handicapped ramp. He ate celery while he read a paperback novel. A red umbrella stuck up from the back of his chair, making it look like a motorized cafe table. **

Leo's eyes lit up, "I _NEED _to build one of those," He breathed. "Let's see I'll need wire, a screwdriver, bolts, celestial bronze…" Leo muttered as he pulled a small notepad out of his toolbelt and began writing down everything he would need.

Piper rolled her eyes.

**I was about to unwrap my sandwich when Nancy Bobofit appeared in front of me with her ugly friends-I guess she'd gotten tired of stealing from the tourists-and dumped her half-eaten lunch in Grover's lap. **

Annabeth snarled.

**"Oops." She grinned at me with her crooked teeth. Her freckles were orange, as if somebody had spray-painted her face with liquid Cheetos.**

"Attractive…" Piper muttered.

"I'll kill her…" Annabeth muttered.

**I tried to stay cool. The school counselor had told me a million times, "Count to ten, get control of your temper." But I was so mad my mind went blank. A wave roared in my ears.**

Annabeth's snarl turned into an evil smile

**I don't remember touching her, but the next thing I knew, Nancy was sitting on her butt in the fountain, screaming, "Percy pushed me!" **

**Mrs. Dodds materialized next to us.**

"Oh no!" Hazel whispered, her hands flying over her mouth. Frank put a comforting arm around her. 

**Some of the kids were whispering: "Did you see-" **

**"-the water-" **

**"-like it grabbed her-" **

"Woah." Leo breathed.

"Just wait until he actually learns how to use his powers," Annabeth said with pride shining in her eyes.

**I didn't know what they were talking about. All I knew was that I was in trouble again.**

**As soon as Mrs. Dodds was sure poor little Nancy was okay, promising to get her a new shirt at the museum gift shop, etc., etc., Mrs. Dodds turned on me. There was a triumphant fire in her eyes, as if I'd done something she'd been waiting for all semester.**

"He probably did," Jason said.

**"Now, honey-" **

**"I know," I grumbled. "A month erasing workbooks." **

"No!" Leo yelled, "You never guess your punishment!"

"Leo," Piper began, "You've been spending too much time with the Stoll Brothers."

**That wasn't the right thing to say. **

"See?" Leo said exasperatedly.

"Nobody disagreed, Leo," Jason said calmingly.

**"Come with me," Mrs. Dodds said. **

**"Wait!" Grover yelped. "It was me. I pushed her." **

"Grover has got guts," Hazel said, "I would be way too scared to cover for him, she frightens me."

**I stared at him, stunned. I couldn't believe he was trying to cover for me. Mrs. Dodds scared Grover to death. **

"For good reason…" Annabeth muttered, she remembered that Seaweed Brain's first monster was a fury.

**She glared at him so hard his whiskery chin trembled. **

**"I don't think so, Mr. Underwood," she said. **

**"But-" **

**"You-will-stay-here." **

**Grover looked at me desperately. **

**"It's okay, man," I told him. "Thanks for trying." **

**"Honey," Mrs. Dodds barked at me. "Now." **

**Nancy Bobofit smirked. **

Annabeth, Hazel, and Frank growled. This chick needed to leave Percy the Hades alone.

**I gave her my deluxe I'll-kill-you-later stare.**

Annabeth shuddered, she had seen that stare used on the Stolls multiple times before. "That stare," She said shakily, "Is _extremely_ frightening."

"I don't know," Hazel said, "He has a perfect wolf stare, I wonder which is worse."

"I don't _want_ to know," Annabeth said, "His I'll-kill-you-later stare is bad enough, I certainly don't want to see his wolf stare if it's even more frightening."

Hazel and Frank nodded.

**Then I turned to face Mrs. Dodds, but she wasn't there. She was standing at the museum entrance, way at the top of the steps, gesturing impatiently at me to come on. **

**How'd she get there so fast? **

"Monster." Everyone said in unison.

**I have moments like that a lot, when my brain falls asleep or something, and the next thing I know I've missed something, as if a puzzle piece fell out of the universe and left me staring at the blank place behind it. The school counselor told me this was part of the ADHD, my brain misinterpreting things. **

"That's not it, Percy," Frank said, "Don't let her fool you."

**I wasn't so sure. **

"Good, good." Piper muttered. The atmosphere in the room was extremely tense, all of the demigods knew that whatever kind of monster this was, it was bad.

**I went after Mrs. Dodds.**

Groans throughout the room.

**Halfway up the steps, I glanced back at Grover. He was looking pale, cutting his eyes between me and Mr. Brunner, like he wanted Mr. Brunner to notice what was going on, but Mr. Brunner was absorbed in his novel. **

"Darnitt! Chiron you're supposed to be watching him!" Annabeth yelped angrily.

**I looked back up. Mrs. Dodds had disappeared again. She was now inside the building, at the end of the entrance hall. **

**Okay, I thought. She's going to make me buy a new shirt for Nancy at the gift shop. **

"If only, Percy," Frank said sadly.

**But apparently that wasn't the plan. **

"It never really is, is it?" Jason asked.

"Nope!" Leo replied energetically.

**I followed her deeper into the museum. When I finally caught up to her, we were back in the Greek and Roman section. **

**Except for us, the gallery was empty. **

"Very, very, very bad sign, Perce." Frank said, his eyes wide.

**Mrs. Dodds stood with her arms crossed in front of a big marble frieze of the Greek gods. She was making this weird noise in her throat, like growling. **

"Another bad sign…" Hazel muttered nervously.

**Even without the noise, I would've been nervous. It's weird being alone with a teacher, especially Mrs. Dodds. Something about the way she looked at the frieze, as if she wanted to pulverize it... **

"And another," Annabeth said grimly.

"**You've been giving us problems, honey," she said. **

**I did the safe thing. I said, "Yes, ma'am."**

Hazel, Frank, and Annabeth looked shocked.

"What?" Piper asked, "What's wrong?"

"Percy _NEVER_ does the safe thing," the three demigods said in unison.

**She tugged on the cuffs of her leather jacket. "Did you really think you would get away with it?" **

"Get away with what?" Piper asked. Hazel, Frank, Jason, and Leo nodded in agreement.

"You'll see." Annabeth said grimly.

**The look in her eyes was beyond mad. It was evil. **

Annabeth knit her fingers nervously.

**She's a teacher, I thought nervously. It's not like she's going to hurt me. **

"Oh she'll definitely hurt you," Jason said.

"You aren't helping, Jason," Piper said.

**I said, "I'll-I'll try harder, ma'am." **

**Thunder shook the building. **

**"We are not fools, Percy Jackson," Mrs. Dodds said. "It was only a matter of time before we found you out. Confess, and you will suffer less pain." **

"What great options," Annabeth drawled sarcastically

**I didn't know what she was talking about. **

**All I could think of was that the teachers must've found the illegal stash of candy I'd been selling out of my dorm room. **

The demigods tried to hold in laughter-

**Or maybe they'd realized I got my essay on Tom Sawyer from the Internet without ever reading the book and now they were going to take away my grade. Or worse, they were going to make me read the book. **

-it wasn't working very well.

**"Well?" she demanded. **

**"Ma'am, I don't..." **

**"Your time is up," she hissed. **

The tension in the room rose even higher if that was even possible.

**Then the weirdest thing happened. Her eyes began to glow like barbecue coals. Her fingers stretched, turning into talons. Her jacket melted into large, leathery wings. She wasn't human. She was a shriveled hag with bat wings and claws and a mouth full of yellow fangs, and she was about to slice me to ribbons. **

"A FURY!" Everybody, minus Annabeth, screamed in alarm.

"How is Percy going to get out of this one?!" Hazel breathed.

**Then things got even stranger. **

"How can things possibly get any stranger?" Piper asked incredulously.

**Mr. Brunner, who'd been out in front of the museum a minute before, wheeled his chair into the doorway of the gallery, holding a pen in his hand. **

"Is that…?" Frank began.

"Yes." Annabeth confirmed.

**"What ho, Percy!" he shouted, and tossed the pen through the air. **

"'What ho?' Seriously?" Leo laughed.

**Mrs. Dodds lunged at me. **

**With a yelp, I dodged and felt talons slash the air next to my ear. I snatched the ballpoint pen out of the air, but when it hit my hand, it wasn't a pen anymore. It was a sword-Mr. Brunner's bronze sword, which he always used on tournament day. **

Leo, Piper, and Jason's eyes widened. "I NEED TO GET MY HANDS ON THE BLUEPRINTS FOR THAT THING!" Leo screeched.

Everyone laughed, and the tension in the room decreased drastically.

**Mrs. Dodds spun toward me with a murderous look in her eyes.**

-and now it was back.

**My knees were jelly. My hands were shaking so bad I almost dropped the sword. **

Jason raised his eyebrows. That behavior would've gotten him killed at Camp Jupiter.

**She snarled, "Die, honey!" **

"Really?! Still with the 'honey?!'" Leo asked incredulously.

**And she flew straight at me. **

**Absolute terror ran through my body. I did the only thing that came naturally: I swung the sword. **

"I'm pretty sure that isn't supposed to come naturally… even for demigods." Frank murmured.

**The metal blade hit her shoulder and passed clean through her body as if she were made of water. **_**Hisss! **_

**Mrs. Dodds was a sand castle in a power fan.**

"That is a strange but accurate description," Piper said thoughtfully.

**She exploded into yellow powder, vaporized on the spot, leaving nothing but the smell of sulfur and a dying screech and a chill of evil in the air, as if those two glowing red eyes were still watching me.**

Everyone shuddered.

**I was alone. **

**There was a ballpoint pen in my hand. **

**Mr. Brunner wasn't there. Nobody was there but me. **

Everyone groaned. "Eh, he wasn't very good at seeing through the mist at all in the beginning. Nobody ever is." Annabeth said, shrugging as she did so.

**My hands were still trembling. My lunch must've been contaminated with magic mushrooms or some-thing. **

Laughter filled the room.

"He has this amazing ability of dissolving tension," Piper laughed.

**Had I imagined the whole thing? **

"Unfortunately, no," Jason said.

**I went back outside. **

**It had started to rain. **

**Grover was sitting by the fountain, a museum map tented over his head. Nancy Bobofit was still standing there, soaked from her swim in the fountain, grumbling to her ugly friends. When she saw me, she said, "I hope Mrs. Kerr whipped your butt." **

"Who?" Hazel asked.

**I said, "Who?" **

Hazel blushed whilst everyone else snickered. **(A/N I really like the word 'whilst,' it just sounds nice.)**

**"Our teacher. Duh!" **

**I blinked. We had no teacher named Mrs. Kerr. I asked Nancy what she was talking about. **

"I hate the mist," Leo and Piper muttered, whilst Jason looked guiltily away.

**She just rolled her eyes and turned away. **

**I asked Grover where Mrs. Dodds was. **

**He said, "Who?" **

Annabeth snorted, "Bet you guys five drachmas a piece that Grover gave away the lie."

The other demigods foolishly agreed.

**But he paused first, and he wouldn't look at me, so I thought he was messing with me. **

Grumbles and drachmas were passed to Annabeth.

**"Not funny, man," I told him. "This is serious." **

**Thunder boomed overhead.**

"Dad agrees." Jason muttered.

**I saw Mr. Brunner sitting under his red umbrella, reading his book, as if he'd never moved. **

**I went over to him. **

"Chiron, however," Annabeth began, "Is a good liar. Percy's doomed."

**He looked up, a little distracted. "Ah, that would be my pen. Please bring your own writing utensil in the future, Mr. Jackson." **

"Poor Percy," Hazel said sympathetically.

**I handed Mr. Brunner his pen. I hadn't even realized I was still holding it. **

**"Sir," I said, "where's Mrs. Dodds?" **

**He stared at me blankly. "Who?" **

"You know," Leo started dryly, "The demon math teacher from the depths of the Underworld that just tried to kill Percy."

**"The other chaperone. Mrs. Dodds. The pre-algebra teacher." **

**He frowned and sat forward, looking mildly concerned. "Percy, there is no Mrs. Dodds on this trip. As far as I know, there has never been a Mrs. Dodds at Yancy Academy. Are you feeling all right?"**

"That's the end of the chapter," Annabeth said, "Who wants to read next?"

"I will," Hazel said timidly, reaching for the book. **"Three Old Ladies Knit the Socks of Death,"** She began.

**A/N: Thus, I finally finish typing the first chapter of PJO, the ride has begun!**

**I just want to thank all of you guys AGAIN for all of the amazing support. I really don't deserve all of you guys and all of your awesome comments, I love you 3**

**Third matter of business, I need some opinions on things! I have two times where I want to introduce Percy to the story and I need a vote! Your choices are:**

**Percy gets added in at the beginning of Chapter Three:**

**Percy gets added in at the end of The Lightning Thief:**

**Finally, let's pass around the blue cookies! (You guys get extra cookies! Thank parafron for them! It was his request!) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::)**

**Love ya! R&R!**


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter Two: Three Old Ladies Knit the Socks of Death**

** A/N: I'm so sorry for taking so long to upload this, guys! Our router broke and I couldn't get on FF to upload it! But now that everything is all back to normal I swear I'll start uploading chapters quicker! Minecrafter's honor!**

**I have to thank you guys AGAIN for the amazing support! It just makes me want to write all the more. Really, though, I can't thank you enough and I'm just so blown away by all of the views and reviews and just everything is so amazing.**

** Now for the result of the poll: the majority ruled when they asked for Percy to be introduced at the end of this chapter! SO IT SHALL BE!**

** Disclaimer: I do not, nor will I ever, own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or Heroes of Olympus.**

"I will," Hazel said timidly, reaching for the book. **"Three Old Ladies Knit the Socks of Death,"** She began.

**I was used to the occasional weird experience, but usually they were over quickly. This twenty-four/seven hallucination was more than I could handle. For the rest of the school year, the entire campus seemed to be playing some kind of trick on me. The students acted as if they were completely and totally convinced that Mrs. Kerr-a perky blond woman whom I'd never seen in my life until she got on our bus at the end of the field trip-had been our pre-algebra teacher since Christmas. **

"Stupid mist…" Piper and Leo muttered.

"Poor Percy," Hazel sympathized.

** Every so often I would spring a Mrs. Dodds reference on somebody, just to see if I could trip them up, but they would stare at me like I was psycho. **

"He kind of is," Frank laughed.

"No doubt about it," Annabeth said, laughing as well.

** It got so I almost believed them-Mrs. Dodds had never existed.**

"He said 'almost,'" Piper pointed out.

** Almost. **

"Fifty drachmas says it's Grover," Annabeth said.

"I don't think I want to take you up on that…" Frank muttered.

** But Grover couldn't fool me.**

Jason snorted. "Grover needs to learn how to lie."

**When I mentioned the name Dodds to him, he would hesitate, then claim she didn't exist. But I knew he was lying. **

**Something was going on. Something had happened at the museum. **

"No, really?" Jason muttered.

Piper looked over at Jason. He didn't normally act like this.

** I didn't have much time to think about it during the days, but at night, visions of Mrs. Dodds with talons and leathery wings would wake me up in a cold sweat. **

Everyone shuddered.

"The first monster is always the worst," Frank muttered, "Especially if it's a _fury._"

** The freak weather continued, which didn't help my mood. One night, a thunderstorm blew out the windows in my dorm room.**

"Lord Jupiter is really mad," Hazel said, "I wonder what for…"

**A few days later, the biggest tornado ever spotted in the Hudson Valley touched down only fifty miles from Yancy Academy. One of the current events we studied in social studies class was the unusual number of small planes that had gone down in sudden squalls in the Atlantic that year. **

"And Lord Neptune is just as mad," Frank added.

** I started feeling cranky and irritable most of the time. My grades slipped from Ds to Fs.**

Leo rolled his eyes at Annabeth's horrified expression. "Not all of us are children of Athena, you know."

**I got into more fights with Nancy Bobofit and her friends. I was sent out into the hallway in almost every class. **

"Seaweed Brain…" Annabeth muttered fondly.

** Finally, when our English teacher, Mr. Nicoll, asked me for the millionth time why I was too lazy to study for spelling tests, I snapped. I called him an old sot.**

Annabeth snorted, "It means old drunkard," she said in response to the questioning looks sent her way.

**I wasn't even sure what it meant, but it sounded good. **

** The headmaster sent my mom a letter the following week, making it official: I would not be invited back next year to Yancy Academy.**

"Poor Percy,"

** Fine, I told myself. Just fine. **

** I was homesick. **

Annabeth smiled fondly.

** I wanted to be with my mom in our little apartment on the Upper East Side, even if I had to go to public school and put up with my obnoxious stepfather and his stupid poker parties.**

Annabeth knit her eyebrows, "He never told me he had a stepfather before Paul…" She muttered.

** And yet... there were things I'd miss at Yancy. The view of the woods out my dorm window, the Hudson River in the distance, the smell of pine trees. I'd miss Grover, who'd been a good friend, even if he was a little strange. I worried how he'd survive next year without me.**

"He wouldn't be there next year," Annabeth shrugged.

** I'd miss Latin class, too-Mr. Brunner's crazy tournament days and his faith that I could do well. **

"Chiron really is pretty awesome," Piper smiled.

** As exam week got closer, Latin was the only test I studied for. I hadn't forgotten what Mr. Brunner had told me about this subject being life-and-death for me. I wasn't sure why, but I'd started to believe him. **

"Good. That's good." Annabeth said, nodding vigorously.

**The evening before my final, I got so frustrated I threw the Cambridge Guide to Greek Mythology across my dorm room. **

Annabeth's face adopted a horrified look at these words.

**Words had started swimming off the page, circling my head, the letters doing one-eighties as if they were riding skateboards. There was no way I was going to remember the difference between Chiron and Charon, or Polydictes and Polydeuces. And conjugating those Latin verbs? Forget it. **

"He certainly knows the difference now," Annabeth smirked.

"What do you mean?" Leo asked.

"Oh you'll see."

**I paced the room, feeling like ants were crawling around inside my shirt. **

Piper shivered, "I'll kill the Stolls," she muttered.

**I remembered Mr. Brunner's serious expression, his thousand-year-old eyes. I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson. **

**I took a deep breath. I picked up the mythology book. **

"Good!" Annabeth said indignantly, as if Percy had personally offended her.

**I'd never asked a teacher for help before. Maybe if I talked to Mr. Brunner, he could give me some pointers. At least I could apologize for the big fat F I was about to score on his exam. I didn't want to leave Yancy Academy with him thinking I hadn't tried.**

"He wants to impress Chiron," Piper smiled.

**I walked downstairs to the faculty offices. Most of them were dark and empty, but Mr. Brunner's door was ajar, light from his window stretching across the hallway floor. **

**I was three steps from the door handle when I heard voices inside the office. Mr. Brunner asked a question. A voice that was definitely Grover's said "... worried about Percy, sir." **

Annabeth snorted, "Grover never stops talking about this," she laughed.

**I froze. **

**I'm not usually an eavesdropper,**

Annabeth laughed harder.

**-but I dare you to try not listening if you hear your best friend talking about you to an adult. **

"That's actually a good point," Piper pointed out.

**I inched closer. **

**"... alone this summer," Grover was saying. "I mean, a Kindly One in the school! Now that we know for sure, and they know too-" **

**"We would only make matters worse by rushing him," Mr. Brunner said. "We need the boy to mature more." **

"He'll never mature," Frank muttered. Hazel and Annabeth nodded vigorously in agreement.

**"But he may not have time. The summer solstice deadline- "**

"Summer solstice deadline?" Jason asked.

"You'll see," Annabeth said solemnly.

**"Will have to be resolved without him, Grover. Let him enjoy his ignorance while he still can." **

**"Sir, he saw her..." **

**"His imagination," Mr. Brunner insisted. "The Mist over the students and staff will be enough to convince him of that." **

"Stupid mist…" Piper and Leo muttered again.

**"Sir, I ... I can't fail in my duties again." Grover's voice was choked with emotion. "You know what that would mean." **

Annabeth groaned, "Thalia would gut him if she heard that."

**"You haven't failed, Grover," Mr. Brunner said kindly. "I should have seen her for what she was. Now let's just worry about keeping Percy alive until next fall-" **

Leo face-palmed.

"And there it is," Frank groaned.

**The mythology book dropped out of my hand and hit the floor with a thud. **

Leo winced, "They'll know now!" He yelped.

**Mr. Brunner went silent. **

"Abort, abort, abort," Leo and Piper murmured.

"If Jason wasn't around you two would be a couple," Annabeth groaned.

**My heart hammering, I picked up the book and backed down the hall. **

**A shadow slid across the lighted glass of Brunner's office door, the shadow of something much taller than my wheelchair-bound teacher, holding something that looked suspiciously like an archer's bow.**

"Why is he in true form?!" Annabeth yelped, startled.

**I opened the nearest door and slipped inside. **

**A few seconds later I heard a slow clop-clop-clop, like muffled wood blocks, then a sound like an animal snuffling right outside my door. A large, dark shape paused in front of the glass, then moved on. **

"OH!" Hazel and Frank yelled.

"What?!" Annabeth asked frantically.

Hazel and Frank both let an evil grin slip on their face, "You'll see," They said still grinning evilly.

Annabeth groaned.

**A bead of sweat trickled down my neck. **

**Somewhere in the hallway, Mr. Brunner spoke. "Nothing," he murmured. "My nerves haven't been right since the winter solstice." **

**"Mine neither," Grover said. "But I could have sworn ..."**

**"Go back to the dorm," Mr. Brunner told him. "You've got a long day of exams tomorrow." **

**"Don't remind me." **

**The lights went out in Mr. Brunner's office. **

**I waited in the dark for what seemed like forever. **

"So about three minutes then," Frank snorted.

**Finally, I slipped out into the hallway and made my way back up to the dorm. **

**Grover was lying on his bed, studying his Latin exam notes like he'd been there all night. **

"He just can't get a break," Jason muttered. He may not have really liked this guy yet but that still had to suck for anybody.

**"Hey," he said, bleary-eyed. "You going to be ready for this test?" **

**I didn't answer. **

**"You look awful." He frowned. "Is everything okay?"**

"Nope!" Leo said cheerily.

**"Just... tired." **

**I turned so he couldn't read my expression, and started getting ready for bed.**

"That won't work," Annabeth said, "Satyrs can read emotions."

**I didn't understand what I'd heard downstairs. I wanted to believe I'd imagined the whole thing.**

"Sadly, no, Seaweed Brain, all of that was very real," Annabeth said sadly.

**But one thing was clear: Grover and Mr. Brunner were talking about me behind my back. They thought I was in some kind of danger. **

"When is he not in some kind of danger?" Frank asked.

**The next afternoon, as I was leaving the three-hour Latin exam,**

"That's torture," Leo whispered, clearly horrified.

"I'm going to have to agree with that statement," Jason muttered.

**-my eyes swimming with all the Greek and Roman names I'd misspelled, Mr. Brunner called me back inside. **

**For a moment, I was worried he'd found out about my eavesdropping the night before, but that didn't seem to be the problem. **

**"Percy," he said. "Don't be discouraged about leaving Yancy. It's ... it's for the best."**

Annabeth groaned, "He won't take that well."

"Can you blame him?" Piper asked, "Chiron isn't exactly the best with motivational speeches."

**His tone was kind, but the words still embarrassed me. Even though he was speaking quietly, the other kids finishing the test could hear. Nancy Bobofit smirked at me and made sarcastic little kissing motions with her lips. **

"Gonna kill her…" Annabeth growled.

**I mumbled, "Okay, sir." **

**"I mean ..." Mr. Brunner wheeled his chair back and forth, like he wasn't sure what to say. "This isn't the right place for you. It was only a matter of time."**

Now all of the half-bloods groaned.

**My eyes stung.**

"He really can't catch a break," Hazel said sadly.

**Here was my favorite teacher, in front of the class, telling me I couldn't handle it. After saying he believed in me all year, now he was telling me I was destined to get kicked out. **

Leo winced; he'd heard that kind of thing plenty of times.

**"Right," I said, trembling. **

"Even for Chiron this is bad," Annabeth said, wide-eyed.

**"No, no," Mr. Brunner said. "Oh, confound it all. What I'm trying to say ... you're not normal, Percy. That's nothing to be-" **

**"Thanks," I blurted. "Thanks a lot, sir, for reminding me. **

**"Percy-" **

**But I was already gone.**

All of the demigods looked sympathetic.

**On the last day of the term, I shoved my clothes into my suitcase. **

**The other guys were joking around, talking about their vacation plans. One of them was going on a hiking trip to Switzerland. Another was cruising the Caribbean for a month. They were juvenile delinquents, like me, but they were rich juvenile delinquents. Their daddies were executives, or ambassadors, or celebrities. I was a nobody, from a family of nobodies. **

"Lord Zeus would not like that," Annabeth snorted.

**They asked me what I'd be doing this summer and I told them I was going back to the city. **

**What I didn't tell them was that I'd have to get a summer job walking dogs or selling magazine subscriptions, and spend my free time worrying about where I'd go to school in the fall. **

"Why would he have to get a job…?" Frank asked.

"I don't know," Annabeth murmured, "He didn't like to talk about his childhood."

**"Oh," one of the guys said. "That's cool."**

"At least they're nice," Hazel breathed.

**They went back to their conversation as if I'd never existed. **

"Nevermind." She muttered.

**The only person I dreaded saying good-bye to was Grover, but as it turned out, I didn't have to. He'd booked a ticket to Manhattan on the same Greyhound as I had, so there we were, together again, heading into the city.**

Jason snorted, "He's not exactly subtle, is he?"

**During the whole bus ride, Grover kept glancing nervously down the aisle, watching the other passengers. It occurred to me that he'd always acted nervous and fidgety when we left Yancy, as if he expected something bad to happen. Before, I'd always assumed he was worried about getting teased. But there was nobody to tease him on the Greyhound. **

**Finally I couldn't stand it anymore. **

**I said, "Looking for Kindly Ones?"**

Laughter filled the small cabin.

"Oh gods, he probably gave Grover a heart attack," Annabeth gasped.

**Grover nearly jumped out of his seat. "Wha-what do you mean?" **

**I confessed about eavesdropping on him and Mr. Brunner the night before the exam. **

**Grover's eye twitched. "How much did you hear?" **

**"Oh... not much. What's the summer solstice dead-line?" **

"Oh… not much," Leo mimicked, "Just everything."

**He winced. "Look, Percy ... I was just worried for you, see? I mean, hallucinating about demon math teachers ..." **

**"Grover-" **

**"And I was telling Mr. Brunner that maybe you were overstressed or something, because there was no such person as Mrs. Dodds, and ..."**

Frank grimaced; this guy was a worse liar than him.

**"Grover, you're a really, really bad liar." **

**His ears turned pink. **

**From his shirt pocket, he fished out a grubby business card. "Just take this, okay? In case you need me this summer."**

**The card was in fancy script, which was murder on my dyslexic eyes, but I finally made out something like: **

**Grover Underwood **

**Keeper **

**Half-Blood Hill **

**Long Island, New York **

**(800) 009-0009 **

**"What's Half-" **

**"Don't say it aloud!" he yelped. "That's my, um ... summer address." **

**My heart sank. Grover had a summer home. I'd never considered that his family might be as rich as the others at Yancy.**

Annabeth's brow furrowed. She was feeling increasingly worse about how she had treated Percy when he first came to camp. It was pretty obvious he didn't have much self-esteem to begin with, and she certainly hadn't helped.

**"Okay," I said glumly. "So, like, if I want to come visit your mansion." **

**He nodded. "Or... or if you need me." **

**"Why would I need you?"**

Piper winced, "That definitely came out wrong."

**It came out harsher than I meant it to. **

**Grover blushed right down to his Adam's apple. "Look, Percy, the truth is, I-I kind of have to protect you." **

**I stared at him. **

**All year long, I'd gotten in fights, keeping bullies away from him. I'd lost sleep worrying that he'd get beaten up next year without me. And here he was acting like he was the one who defended me.**

"He really is a good friend," Piper said softly.

"He really is," Hazel smiled.

**"Grover," I said, "what exactly are you protecting me from?" **

**There was a huge grinding noise under our feet. Black smoke poured from the dashboard and the whole bus filled with a smell like rotten eggs. The driver cursed and limped the Greyhound over to the side of the highway. **

**After a few minutes clanking around in the engine compartment, the driver announced that we'd all have to get off. Grover and I filed outside with everybody else. **

**We were on a stretch of country road-no place you'd notice if you didn't break down there. On our side of the highway was nothing but maple trees and litter from passing cars. On the other side, across four lanes of asphalt shimmering with afternoon heat, was an old-fashioned fruit stand.**

Annabeth paled.

**The stuff on sale looked really good: heaping boxes of bloodred cherries and apples, walnuts and, apricots, jugs of cider in a claw-foot tub full of ice. There were no cus-tomers, just three old ladies sitting in rocking chairs in the shade of a maple tree, knitting the biggest pair of socks I'd ever seen.**

Now Jason, Frank, and Hazel paled as well.

**I mean these socks were the size of sweaters, but they were clearly socks. The lady on the right knitted one of them. The lady on the left knitted the other. The lady in the middle held an enormous basket of electric-blue yarn. **

"The fates," Piper gasped.

"He never told me," Annabeth breathed.

** All three women looked ancient, with pale faces wrinkled like fruit leather, silver hair tied back in white bandannas, bony arms sticking out of bleached cotton dresses. **

** The weirdest thing was, they seemed to be looking right at me. **

If possible Annabeth paled even more.

** I looked over at Grover to say something about this and saw that the blood had drained from his face. His nose was twitching. **

** "Grover?" I said. "Hey, man-" **

** "Tell me they're not looking at you. They are, aren't they?" **

** "Yeah. Weird, huh? You think those socks would fit me?" **

"Not funny." Frank whispered.

** "Not funny, Percy. Not funny at all." **

** The old lady in the middle took out a huge pair of scissors-gold and silver, long-bladed, like shears. I heard Grover catch his breath.**

As did everyone else in the room.

** "We're getting on the bus," he told me. "Come on." **

"It wouldn't work," Annabeth whispered.

** "What?" I said. "It's a thousand degrees in there." **

**"Come on!'" He pried open the door and climbed inside, but I stayed back. **

**Across the road, the old ladies were still watching me. The middle one cut the yarn, and I swear I could hear that snip across four lanes of traffic. Her two friends balled up the electric-blue socks, leaving me wondering who they could possibly be for-Sasquatch or Godzilla. **

The room was silent.

"How is he even alive?" Jason whispered.

Annabeth gulped, "Sometimes, very rarely, it can also symbolize the death of someone who made a big impact on your fate."

"So then it doesn't definitely mean he's going to die?" Frank asked hopefully.

Annabeth bit her lip. "Not necessarily…" She trailed off.

** At the rear of the bus, the driver wrenched a big chunk of smoking metal out of the engine compartment. The bus shuddered, and the engine roared back to life. **

** The passengers cheered. **

** "Darn right!" yelled the driver. He slapped the bus with his hat. "Everybody back on board!" **

** Once we got going, I started feeling feverish, as if I'd caught the flu. **

The demigods shuddered.

** Grover didn't look much better. He was shivering and his teeth were chattering. **

** "Grover?" **

** "Yeah?" **

** "What are you not telling me?" **

"Everything." Leo murmured. The fates had always creeped him out.

** He dabbed his forehead with his shirt sleeve. "Percy, what did you see back at the fruit stand?" **

**"You mean the old ladies? What is it about them, man? They're not like ... Mrs. Dodds, are they?" **

"Worse," Piper whispered.

** His expression was hard to read, but I got the feeling that the fruit-stand ladies were something much, much worse than Mrs. Dodds. He said, "Just tell me what you saw." **

** "The middle one took out her scissors, and she cut the yarn." **

** He closed his eyes and made a gesture with his fingers that might've been crossing himself, but it wasn't. It was something else, something almost-older. **

"He's observant," Jason murmured, almost to himself.

** He said, "You saw her snip the cord." **

** "Yeah. So?" But even as I said it, I knew it was a big deal. **

"A very, very, very big deal," Annabeth said.

** "This is not happening," Grover mumbled. He started chewing at his thumb. "I don't want this to be like the last time." **

**"What last time?" **

** "Always sixth grade. They never get past sixth." **

** "Grover," I said, because he was really starting to scare me. "What are you talking about?" **

** "Let me walk you home from the bus station. Promise me." **

"Why do I feel like this promise isn't going to be kept?" Leo joked weakly. He wanted to lighten the mood but he wasn't quite sure how to.

**This seemed like a strange request to me, but I promised he could. **

** "Is this like a superstition or something?" I asked. **

** No answer. **

** "Grover-that snipping of the yarn. Does that mean somebody is going to die?" **

** He looked at me mournfully, like he was already picking the kind of flowers I'd like best on my coffin.**

"Which would be blue roses by the way," A voice said behind them.

All of the demigods whipped around to see a teenager leaning against the wall behind them. He had raven black hair, sun-kissed skin, and was wearing what looked to be a… purple bed sheet? A soft smile shone on his face. And then his eyes locked on Annabeth. His eyes. They were a beautiful sea green color. Piper, Jason, and Leo instantly recognized this guy as Percy Jackson.

**A/N: OOOOO Cliffy! You're welcome for that! Once again I just have to say that I am so sorry! I feel like the world is doing everything in its power to prevent me from updating quickly. I swear that updates will be coming quicker from now on! Love you guys! R&R and Blue Cookies! (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::)**


End file.
